PTI wants to rig election through EVMs, says Sherpao

CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Friday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was trying to rig the next election through the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

“The PTI came to power through rigging in the last polls. We want a free and fair election, which is acceptable to all political parties,” he said while addressing a gathering at Shabqadar tehsil in Charsadda.

Pakistan People’s Party leader Asadullah Khan announced joining the QWP along with his family members and supporters. Aftab Sherpao said the government had called the joint session of the Parliament to pass the legislation on the EVMs but shelved it as the government failed to evolve consensus over the issue. The government had not taken even its allies into confidence who had also expressed reservations over it, he added.

He claimed the allies would ditch PTI before the next general election. Aftab Sherpao said the PTI government had failed to honour the pledges made with the people. He predicted the defeat of the PTI candidates in the local government election as the voters were fed up with the incumbent rulers.

The QWP leader said verification of the voters’ list was being carried out at a time when the LG elections were just round the corner. Aftab Sherpao said the PTI rulers rendered about 17,000 government employees jobless, who were now staging protests and moving courts to get reinstated. The QWP leader said the economy was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the flawed fiscal policies of the inefficient rulers. He said the PTI lacked experience and vision to revive the economy. He added that the Pakistani rupee had weakened against the US dollar, which was the main reason for the skyrocketing inflation. The purchasing power of the people has fallen in recent years, he added. The poor people were unable to feed their children in the face of rising inflation, he went on to add.